Mortimer is a fantastic writer. His style is clear and his coverage understandable and cohesive. I have read many of his other works which lend great insight especially his work on the 14th century. This book is a real challenge. How does one in the 21st century rate the past ten or so centuries. Mortimer tries and it is worth the read to see what he values.
The real problem is that from the 21st century looking backward we are prone to judge say the 14th century as a shabby time dominated by the plague. But it gave us Dante, Petrarch, Chaucer, Boccaccio and in addition William of Ockham and Marcellius of Padua. The first grouping were authors of the vernacular, Italian and English, the latter two the grandparents of what we now see as constitutional democracy. In addition the conflict with the Avignon Papacy started the basics of nationalism.
One dimension of progress is also the "tools" used by each generation. From the compass and the clock, to the DNA sequencer and computers of today. Indeed progress is often dominated by these tools. Again back in the 14th century the battles of Crecy and Poitier saw the introduction of cannons simultaneous to the advances in archery. One may ask if that was comparable to nuclear weapons of the 20th century. In the 100 years war more were killed in absolute numbers by the ravages of chevaunche.
One can go back to any prior century and point to key changes. Overall the author does a credible and readable job from his perspective. However the question can remain: is there any universal perspective which can elucidate these changes?
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